Buffalo River Float 2014 aka "30 miles of hell!"

Claira and Jay just got back! They had an amazing time, but both have no desire to kyak that far again...EVER! (Their words) 

They Conquered the rain, wet sleeping bags, Claira flipped and got going again (by herself, she is Dauntless!), she jumped off a 40 foot bluff (Yep, she is Dauntless!), Jay had coffee without sugar and creamer (what a sacrificial Dad you are, really) All of that and all they came home with was....

A SUNBURRRRN! 

Road Trip

Claira and had so much fun in June seeing the Morton's. This was our third time to visit Bartlesville and we loved it!!! 

Crazy Claira loved our upside down photo. I love that she always makes life interesting. I  so "in the box" she is so NOT! The Lord knew I needed her to makeup life so much more fun!! 

Rebecca's mom, Karen was also visiting with her incredible embroidery machine. For my birthday Rebecca had me pick out the designs and fabric I wanted on my very own tea towels. Two days of crafting with two great women was so much fun! 

I ended up saying bye to my best friend and my little girl. Yes, Claira stayed for another week! So, I headed home through Tulsa, for whatever reason I loved the look of these overpasses. 

When I got to the towers I started missing Claira like crazy. When we get to this point she always says, "Yay! We are almost there!!!

Over the next week Claira enjoyed being apart of the Morton Family aka Morton Camp and we realized how quiet our house is without Claira. And, none of us liked it, even JT. 

So glad you came home to us Claira!! 

Celebrating 13....WOW! My little girl is now a young woman.

First, let me say that Claira has grown into an amazing young lady. Jay and I really wanted her birthday to be a milestone into women hood for her. After conspiring on our own we decided to get the grandmothers involved. It was such a wonderful day!

Claira had no idea what would happen on her birthday.

Feburary 27, 20013

7:00 am

I woke Claira up, said, "Happy Birthday!" and  then told her to wear something she felt comfortable, but pretty in. 

8:00 am 

 We arrived at Briar Rose, our favorite bakery. While eating cinnamon rolls we begin to talk about womanhood. I wish I could remember exactly what I said, but basically I told her that being a woman is an amazing gift. She will face many challenges, but with those challenges come sweet victories. I talked with her about how we, as women,  have a responsibility to be aware of our mood changes. When we are on our period it isn't an excuse for women to be grumpy and rude to everyone it is a time for awareness and self-control.

Just a month before this God had really impressed upon me that I had the wrong idea about my monthly cycle. I have always viewed it has a time to suck it up and just pretend like everything it fine, even though it isn't and I end up having to do A LOT of apologizing when it is over. My new approach has been to plan ahead, clear the calendar, and take the week to soak of Jesus and save my energy for my family and say, "No" or "Not this week, but next" to everything else. It has revolutionized me! I explained this to Claira and gave her, what we fondly call , her very own "Exclamation Point Book" (!)



Jay has joked with me many times over the past 18 1/2 years. That I don't have a period, an exclamation point!!!! I have to agree. I filled Claira's book with verses that apply to how we, as women, feel during our cycle. She loved it and uses it. It was a sweet time for us. I cried, she giggled. God has blessed me with a daughter that loves to talk about everything! There is no "taboo" conversation with Claira and  I love every minute of it!!!

9:00am

Claira's first ever 1 hour massage, a gift from her Nonna! Since Claira was little she has wanted a full body massage. On the way to the massage I gave her a card from Nonna. When we pulled up I told her that she was about to experience something that would change her life and I'm pretty sure it did!

Here is Claira right before her massage. It was a cold day!!

11:00 am

Our next stop was Make Up! I handed her a card from Grandma Tulsa and then told her that Grandma T wanted to purchase her make up. Also, since Claira was little she was playing in my make up. She loved pretending to be older than she was. She couldn't wait for the day that she could have her own "real" make up and wear it in public. Well...today was that day!

Outside of Ulta with her stash!

 We bought: 
foundation
blush
eyeshadow
masscara
lip gloss
brushes
curling rod
nail polish
face wash
moiturizer
lotion etc....
It was SO MUCH FUN!!!!

11:40 am

After Ulta we got in the car and I handed her another card from Grandma. Grandma's gift was a manicure and pedicure but, Claira opted for just the pedicure. She was thrilled! This was also something she had never done and couldn't  wait to experience, and once again, today was that day!

 12:30 pm

Next Stop: Surprise lunch with Dad! After the pedicure I mentioned having lunch at Noodles. She was excited about  Noodles, but said that she was sad that she hadn't gotten to see her Dad yet. As we pulled into the parking lot she noticed his truck and was so excited, "Mom! Dad is here! I'm so glad he is having lunch with me!!!!" I hate he didn't see that reaction.

Jay and I knew that we wanted to present Claira with a purity ring, but didn't want her to think that being pure meant not having sex. He wrote her the sweetest letter and read it to her at lunch explaining that he desires his daughter to have a pure heart for the rest of her life and then asked her to wear the ring if she was willing to accept the challenge of seeking purity in Christ the rest of her life. She accepted the ring and the challenge. This was the sweetest father/daughter moment.

2:00 pm

Claira is setting up her Facebook account.

After lunch Claira was so overwhelmed with everything she had experienced she wanted to just go home and take a nap.  But, then she decided that you only have your 13th Birthday once so she decided to make the most of it.

We ended up at Mama Carmen's for afternoon coffee and hot chocolate. It was really fun hanging out and setting up Claira's Facebook page. She was excited to finally have her very own facebook account, although, since she had been on instagram for a while I think it left little to be desired.

 4:00 pm

Women who follow Jesus are servants. I wanted to Claira and I to start her 13th year doing something to serve someone else. Since my parents had their fire only a few days before Claira's birthday we decided to head over to the thrift store and buy them some clothing to get them by. While at Potters House Thrift we talked with a few of our friends who worked there. After sharing with them why we were there they decided to donate $100 a free clothing to my parents! WOW! That goes a long way in a thrift store!! Claira and I had so much fun picking out clothing for my parents. It didn't all fit them, but they were so happy to have the stuff that did. Plus, a lot of it was really, really nice stuff.

7:00pm

How in the world do you end such a great day? THE MOVIES!!! Claira and I headed to Rogers to see Les Miserables. We were the only two in the entire theater. It was so much fun, talking, laughing and crying together.

What a wonderful day we had!!! It was just perfect!

Oh....we can't forget about the friend party!!!!!

Glow in the Dark Bowling. Music Videos and all!!!!

 

 

 Jessica, Aaron, Claira & Katie Anne

This Birthday dessert was amazing: Chocolate Waffles with mint Chocolate Chip Ice cream!

Hammocking with Claira...my challenge to be spontaneous.

One of things I was so excited about in having a little girl was getting to re-live "park days".

Often when the weather was nice my mom and I would grab our books and blankets, head to Battlefield Park, find a nice shade tree and relax for an hour or so.

Well, yesterday was the day! It only took 13 years, but Claira finally came to me begging me to go to the park with her so that she could find a shade tree, relax and read books.

My first response was, not today because I need to do: X,Y,& Z. Then she challenged me to be spontaneous and seize the day! Thanks to Claira's convincing argument this is what my afternoon looked like instead:

Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness

I love looking out the window in the morning and seeing Claira with her bible open starting her day off right.

"Thank you Lord for a daughter who desires to seek you out in the morning. I pray that all the things she in learning in her mind will continue to penetrate her heart."

The New Hairdoo!

Claira had been growing her hair since last summer and decided that it was time for a new hairdoo! It was so long and pretty but Jay and I ecouraged her that hair will always grow if she decided she didn't like it short.

Thanks to Anut Christy's talent the short haircut is a a HIT! Claira loves it so much.

Beautiful!

Loving Spring

On one of the first warm spring days Claira made a pallet for Paxton (our sweet nieghbor & Claira's "Little Brother") outside under the umbrella. It was sweet to see the two of them relaxed in the warm sun.

Claira's Birthday Party #3!!

February 27th!

This was the unveiling of the doll house! Claira asked for her doll house, which was one my dad had made for me, to be “made over” for her birthday. The entire month of February was spent making trips to Nonna & Poppa’s to work on the house. You guys did amazing working helping me with the house. It turned out just perfect and she has played with it just about every day since having it back.

Claira chose Cajun Chicken Pasta for lunch and Strawberry Cake for dessert! It was great to have everyone there to celebrate.

Claira,
It has been wonderful to see you grow and watch how you are becoming a woman but thank you for not growing up too fast! I am so glad that you desire to keep your imagination as long as possible and that you still enjoying playing will your doll house, American Girl dolls & Webkins. You are so incredibly creative in how you play and l love listening in and hearing all the clever dialog you come up with. By listening to you I can tell that you are going to be a wonderful wife, mother & friend!
I love you Angel Face!

Claira's Birthday Party #2

We celebrated Claira and Poppa Jerry’s Birthday together @ Grandma and Poppa Jerry’s house in Rogers.

The best part was our special guest Uncle Carl. What a great weekend we had catching up.  Although, it was quite strange to not have Andrea, Madison, Nathan & Lauren there it was good “guy time” for Jay and Carl.

Jay met Carl while they were in avionics school in Memphis, TN. Carl and Andrea married the weekend before us the same year. Both Carl and Jay were stationed to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station at the same time but attached to different squadrons. Our friendship grew deeper after JT was born. God has really used them in our lives in so many ways. I was looking through pictures the other day and we have been blessed to see the Daggett’s every year since we all moved from Whidbey Island. It is so wonderful to have friends that you don’t have to see every day but when you get together again it is like a day hasn’t gone by.

Happy Birthday to Claira! #11

Claira was very clever this year in her old age of almost 11 and decided to have an early party at Bighouse with a few of her closest friends.

It is amazing to me how fast time goes by and how more and more beautiful Claira is becoming inside and out.

With Katie Anne, Miriam, Meghan, Emma, Claira & Jessica we made cards and tie dyed t-shirts.

I have to say I believe my favorite part was the cake she chose. Chocolate cake covered in milk chocolate ganache filled with peppermint ice cream! Wonderful!

She would say here favorite part was opening the presents! (Still almost 11)

Homespun Dresses

Nonna is very gifted with sewing. She made some amazing dresses for Matty, Claira's American Girl doll. Mom- Thank you for having more patience than I do.